The present invention relates to improvements in wiring devices for telecommunications. In particular, the present invention provides a replacement for conventional faceplates or coverplates that are installed on telephone jack housings, in order to provide multiple jacks from a single, installed jack.
The RJ11 telephone connector jack has been around for decades, and many telephone installations have been made using that connector. Thus, there is a large installed base of telephone outlets in residences and businesses, and other installations for telephones, fax machines, and the like using such connectors.
In recent years, the number of telephone lines needed for typical daily operations has proliferated. In addition to the additional voice lines, lines for Internet connection, fax connection, and the like have become more and more desirable for both residential and business installations. The installed single outlet RJ11 connectors are not sufficient for these new needs. Various efforts have been made to address the need by providing after-market connectors enabling multiple telephone lines to be connected to a single outlet. Examples are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,697,815 to Drewnicki; U.S. Pat. No. 5,666,408 to Lao; U.S. Pat. No. 5,651,690 to Klas et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,425,172 to Carswell et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,865,561 to Collier et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,362,905 to Ismail; U.S. Pat. No. 4,241,974 to Hardesty; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,061,411 to Gumb et al.
While these connectors do provide for multiplication of outlets, they have the drawback of protruding into a room by a considerable amount, causing numerous problems. First, the protruding device is unsightly. Second, if a piece of furniture is to be located near the wall, the protruding portion requires the furniture to be kept a substantial distance away from the wall. Third, the protruding item, supported typically generally only by the interfitting of a male plug with a female jack, is subject to damage by a collision between something moving in the room and the protruding connector. Of course, the excessive protrusion makes such collisions more likely and it also enhances the leverage on the jack when the collision occurs, making damage more likely.
Further efforts have been made to provide multiple outlets including commercial products such as a jack Model SC-625D of Suttle Apparatus Corporation. However, such products have the drawback of being complicated and requiring rewiring of the outlet in order to be installed. A homeowner or non-technical person may be reluctant to undertake such a rewiring, and is subject to making an error or damaging the apparatus in making an attempt.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an easy to install multiplier for telephone jacks that does not require special expertise, is securely mounted to the wall, and does not protrude excessively into a room.
The present invention fulfills this need in the art by providing an apparatus for providing multiple telephone jacks at an outlet box that has an installed telephone jack and holes to receive cover plate support screws including a wiring board having mounted thereon a telephone plug and a plurality of telephone jacks and wires from the plug to the plurality of telephone jacks so that circuits are formed from the plug to the telephone jacks. A housing for the wiring board has an outlet box side and another side, with the wiring board arranged within the housing so that the number of telecommunications paths available from the outlet box side of the housing to the other side of the housing is multiplied. The housing has holes arranged to receive mounting screws to pass through the housing for engagement with the holes in the outlet box to form a secure mount of the housing on the outlet box.
In a preferred embodiment the housing includes a top having a coverplate and sidewalls and a bottom, and the wiring board is secured to the top. In this embodiment the bottom is secured to the sidewalls so that the top, bottom and sidewalls substantially surround all sides of the wiring board.
Typically the telephone plug includes a release lever, and the housing includes an access path from the other side through the housing to the release lever. Preferably, the wiring board has an opening for the access path. The access path may include a boundary wall affixed to the housing.
In a preferred embodiment the housing includes a top having a coverplate and sidewalls and a bottom. The wiring board is secured to the top with fasteners passing through the wiring board and lodged in the coverplate, and the bottom is secured to the sidewalls by an interlock fit so that the top, bottom and sidewalls substantially surround all sides of the wiring board. In this embodiment the coverplate preferably has an outlet box side and standoffs on its outlet box side positioned to hold the wiring board spaced away from a main portion of the top. The coverplate may also have bosses on its outlet box side surrounding the mounting holes to hold the bottom spaced away from the coverplate and away from the wiring board.
Preferably, the plug protrudes from the outlet box side of the housing to enable engagement with a jack mounted in an outlet box.
In a preferred embodiment the housing generally has the shape of a rectangular parallelopiped with a minimal distance from the outlet box side to the other side, to provide the appearance of a conventional outlet box coverplate with minimal protrusion into a room from the outlet box when installed.
The plurality of telephone jacks may be four telephone jacks. The wires from the plug to the jacks may connect all connected jacks to the same telecommunications path. Alternatively, the wires from the plug to the jacks may connect one of the connected jacks to a different telecommunications path than another jack.
The invention also provides a method of assembly of a telephone jack multiplier for an outlet box including affixing a plurality of telephone jacks and a telephone plug to a wiring board, connecting wires from the plug to the plurality of telephone jacks so that circuits are formed from the plug to the telephone jacks, installing the wiring board in a housing having an outlet box side and another side to form a plurality of telecommunication paths from the outlet box side of the housing to the other side of the housing, and providing mounting screws for the housing to pass through holes in the housing for engagement with the holes in the outlet box to form a secure mount of the housing on the outlet box.
The act of installing may include affixing the wiring board to a top that has a coverplate and sidewalls. It may also include affixing a bottom to the wiring board after the wiring board is affixed to the top so that the top, bottom and sidewalls substantially surround all sides of the wiring board.
The act of installing may include aligning a release lever on the telephone plug with an access path from the other side through the housing to the release lever. It may also include aligning a boundary wall for the access path affixed to the housing with the release lever.
Installing may also include securing the wiring board to a coverplate of the housing by passing fasteners through the wiring board and lodging the fasteners in the coverplate. It may also include interlocking portions of a bottom to sidewalls attached to the coverplate so that the coverplate, bottom and sidewalls substantially surround all sides of the wiring board.
The act of wiring the plug to the jacks may include connecting all connected jacks to the same telecommunications path. Alternatively it may include connecting one of the connected jacks to a different telecommunications path than another jack.
The invention also provides a method of installation of a multiple telephone jack apparatus on an outlet box in a surface including removing a coverplate from the outlet box to expose an opening in the surface and an installed jack and mounting holes on the outlet box, positioning a multiple telephone jack apparatus on the opening in the surface while inserting a plug that extends from the apparatus into the installed jack; and passing screws through the multiple telephone jack apparatus and into the mounting holes on the outlet box to secure the multiple telephone jack apparatus onto the outlet box.
The invention further provides a method of removal of a multiple telephone jack apparatus from an outlet box in a surface including unscrewing screws that pass through the multiple telephone jack apparatus and into the mounting holes on the outlet box to loosen the multiple telephone jack apparatus from the outlet box, inserting an elongated item into an access path opening in a surface of the multiple telephone jack apparatus to deflect a release lever on a plug extending from the multiple telephone jack apparatus into a jack in the outlet box to release the plug from the jack in the outlet box, and moving the multiple telephone jack apparatus away from an outlet box.
The invention further provides a method of installation of a multiple telephone jack apparatus on an outlet box in a surface including removing screws; holding a coverplate to the outlet box that has a single installed jack to expose screw mounting holes in the coverplate on the outlet box; positioning a multiple telephone jack apparatus on the coverplate while inserting a plug that extends from the apparatus into the installed jack; and passing long screws through the multiple telephone jack apparatus and into the mounting holes on the outlet box to secure the multiple telephone jack apparatus onto the outlet box.